Into the Darkness
by Chatay
Summary: They have returned from the digital world. However this did not come without a price. The one who risked his lives many time to protect them is now the one who needs them the most. A Takouji fic.
1. Prologue

  
  
Into the Darkness  
Written by Lyra  
Rated PG-13  
Prologue  
  
AN - I will warn you now, this will be a **Takouji** fic. While its not going to necessary be the fluffy type,  
it is going to discuss their relationship. If you're going to flame me for it, go ahead, its not my problem  
if you wish to waste your time. Now onto other things, I will be using Japanese names all around and there  
will most likely be spoilers for the end of Frontier. Since not everyone knows the Japanese names I will be  
posting a little translation guide after this prologue, so please refer back to that if you read anything  
you don't know. It will be updated daily. This will most likely be a 6-8 chapter fiction, with  
the possibility of being slightly longer and depending on how I end things.. it might have a sequel. I  
sincerely hope you enjoy my work.  
  
Disclaimer - You know the usual, I don't own any of the characters from Digimon Frontier.

* * *

Kouji Minamoto stared outside the window of his apartment. It had been two weeks since they had returned  
to the real world, and well just life. It was amazing on how much had changed for him, in the matter of  
a week or two, but in reality it was months. He had both of his worlds shattered in a instant. He learned  
that he had a brother, something that had shocked him to the core. Not that me minded, he loved Kouichi  
dearly. It was just shocking to learn how his father could keep all of that from him. He never really  
understood adults and their 'its for the best' logic. How could keeping him from his brother and mother be  
the best for him. Basically it was his father not wanting anything to do with his mother, which is was  
stupid in his opinion. These very thoughts had been what had led him to telling his father he would be  
moving in with Kouichi and his mother. His father had at first tried to say he had legal custody and would  
use that to keep Kouji there, however after many heated arguments that threat soon faded away. He looked  
around his half unpacked room that he now shared with Kouichi and smiled slightly.  
  
"It would seem someone's lost in thought."  
  
Kouji looked at the doorway to see Kouichi smiling as bright as ever.  
  
"Yeah I suppose so." replied Kouji  
  
"What are you thinking about?" asked Kouichi.  
  
Kouji smiled then folded his arms back behind his head.  
  
"Just thinking about how things have changed a lot. How I've changed."  
  
Kouichi smiled as if to say care to elaborate. Kouji grinned.  
  
"You're not getting more out of me than that, I haven't changed that much."  
  
Kouichi sighed, "I suppose so, have you talked to any of the others recently?"  
  
"No not really. I guess we've sorta been wrapped up in our own world haven't we?" stated Kouji.  
  
"Yeah we sorta have... I ran into Izumi a couple days back. She seemed to be doing well. She  
said a couple of odd things though."  
  
Kouji raised an eyebrow, "Like what?"  
  
"She said she had talked to Tomoki and Junpei, but had been unable to reach Takuya. She said she  
was beginning to get worried. She said it was wierd..."  
  
"What was wierd?" asked Kouji.  
  
"She said everytime she calle-"  
  
"Kouji! Kouichi! I'm home! Hey I thought I told you two to clean up a bit around here." grumbled their  
mother.  
  
Kouji and Kouichi looked at one another as if to say another time and headed out to greet their mother.  
  
Kouji looked around their room. His brother had promptly fell asleep after dinner, so they never got to  
finish their conversation. He wondered slightly what Izumi was talking about. It bothered him that no  
one seemed to be able to get a hold of Takuya. He had thought maybe Takuya might have some issues with  
being brought back to the real world. He thought of a conversation they had, just days before the fight  
with Lucemon.  
  
_"Hey... do you ever wish we could just stay here?" asked Takuya.  
  
"What do you mean? Don't you want to return back to Shinya and your family?" Kouji replied, slightly  
suprised by the seriousness of his friend.  
  
"Yeah... I guess."  
  
_After that Takuya had fell silent, and the end of their journey in the digital world had begun.  
  
Kouji sighed as he saw the sun beginning to peak through the window. He hadn't slept at all the whole  
night, partially due to his thoughts and the other part was due to Kouichi's snoring. The boy sounded  
like he needed a new muffler.  
  
"I should go find Takuya." he whispered.  
  
"That you should."  
  
Kouji nearly jumped out of his skin then glared daggers at his brother.  
  
"What? You're talking woke me up, you've been up most of the night. I know you're glad that I'm in your  
life, but you and Takuya were really close. I find it odd that you didn't want to spend any time with  
him after returning to the real world."  
  
_'I did want to... I just never got around to it,'_ Kouji thought silently.  
  
"Meh. What makes you think me and Takuya were so close? All we did was fight." Kouji stated, obviously  
annoyed.  
  
Kouichi smiled at his brother, "I'm your brother and even though I've only known you for a short time. I  
can see what is so obviously there. True you two may fight a lot, but if it came down to a choice between  
yourself and Takuya, you'd risk your life to save his as you have done many times. As would he..."  
  
"Hmph. You couldn't know what Takuya thinks." muttered Kouji.  
  
"I don't have to. Both you and I know how pure Takuya's heart is. He's shown it many times, your two  
hearts are a lot alike. Whether either of you two choose to admit it."  
  
"Whatever.. I'm going out," Kouji replied as he pulled on some clothes and headed out the door.  
  
"Brother dear, stubborn as always..." Kouichi muttered before turning over and going back to sleep.

-------------------------------------

Kouji was deep in thought as he walked towards Takuya's house. He had called Izumi and learned how to  
get there, although she sounded concerned and told him to call her after he was done. He couldn't really  
figure out why.  
  
_'What does Izumi know that I don't? Did something happen to Takuya?'_ with that thought, he broke into a  
full run.  
  
Kouji stopped outside the door of Takuya's apartment gasping for air.  
  
_'Why did I just run all the way here? Because I thouht Takuya might be in trouble?'_ he wondered.  
  
He glared at the door as he rang the doorbell. He waited a minute or two and the door finally opened.  
Takuya's mother stood there smiling happily.  
  
"May I help you?" she asked politely.  
  
"Yes, I wanted to know if Takuya was home."  
  
She looked at him strangely for a minute.  
  
"A Takuya? There must be some kind of mistake going on here. A young girl has been calling here  
asking for a Takuya as well." she almost whispered.  
  
Kouji looked at the woman strangely, _'Why is it weird that Izumi was calling for Takuya?'  
_  
Takuya's mother seemed to gather her thoughts and then smiled politely again.  
  
"I'm sorry, but there must be some misunderstanding here because there isn't a Takuya at  
this residence. I only have one son, and he's much too young to known any of you. I  
apologize for whatever mix up is going on. Good Bye."  
  
With that she shut the door, leaving a utterly shocked Kouji gaping at the door.

* * *

Next Chapter - Takuya's Heart. 


	2. Chapter 1 Takuya's Heart

  
  
Into the Darkness  
Lyra  
PG-13  
  
Chapter 1 - Takuya's Heart

* * *

Flashback to the evening after everyone returned to the real world  
  
Takuya sighed as he slowly removed his shirt. It had been one heck of a day. He had traveled to a strange world,  
became a digimon, defeated evil, and all in time to return for Shinya's birthday. It would seem that life was  
simply going to continue, however this thought really didn't enthuze him much.  
  
_'I really shouldn't feel this way. This is what I wanted from the beginning right? To return home, but for some  
reason that just doesn't seem that important anymore,'_ he thought.  
  
He plopped down on his bed.  
  
_'Maybe... things will look better in the morning.'_

_------------------------------------------------------------_  
  
Takuya glared at the sidewalk. Things had definately not gone better in the morning. First thing in the morning  
his mother had started in on him, about this or that. He really didn't know what because he had started tuning most  
of it out after the curses started coming. He knew his mother could be as sweet as apple pie, but she just didn't  
handle her bad moods that well, and those had been coming more and more recently. He had hoped to maybe get a hold  
of everyone else, but had decided against it figuring that they were probaly catching up with family. He wouldn't  
of minded spending time with his family, but they weren't around. His father had been off to work before the sun  
came up, his mother had scurried out the door muttering something about stupid errands and Shinya had left to spend  
the day with a friend.  
  
_'So this is life huh? Don't really think I missed much. I can't believe how boring my life was before. Was  
I really content like this, or just naive?'_ he questioned silently.  
  
As he looked up towards the sky, his thoughts drifted to those of his friends.  
  
_'I'm sure everyone else is doing well. Izumi's probaly out cooking. Junpei is most likely either eating or  
just catching up on life. I believe Tomoki was the person Shinya was meeting up with. Never knew about that  
one... I was suprised I never met Tomoki before our trip. Then there's Kouichi and Kouji... well they have each other.  
What more else do they need?'  
_  
Takuya kicked a stone as he grimaced at this thought.  
  
_'Everyone has someone close to them.. but what do I have? I have family, sure. But even before I went to the  
digital world, I really didn't have anyone I was overly close to. Hmph... guess me and Kouji weren't really  
as far apart as I thought. Just handled it in different ways.. ha... he'd probaly have a heart attack if he heard  
something that sounded so mature coming out of my mouth. I wonder how he's doing..'  
  
_Takuya sighed annoyed as he dug in his pocket to retrieve his key. He couldn't believe that Shinya had locked the  
door. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice his key was not fitting in the lock.  
  
_'What the?'_  
  
He finally just gave up and pounded on the door. His mother came to the door smiling and before anything could be  
said. She looked him promptly in the eye and asked, "Can I help you?"  
  
Takuya blinked and then stared at his mother.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
The woman almost facefaulted and then coughed regaining her composure.  
  
"Are you feeling well young man? Or perhaps looking for a long lost parent? I can assure you that I have no  
other children than my son, Shinya," she stated.  
  
Takuya just simply nodded.  
  
"I'm sorry, must of just not been paying attention. Sorry for disturbing you." he replied.  
  
Takuya ran away from his house as fast as he could.  
  
_'What the hell just happened?'_

_-------------------------------------------------------_  
  
Present Time  
  
Takuya splashed his face with the water from the stream, then shook his head to dry off. He had been living in  
the park for a week to two, he wasn't entirely sure due to the fact he had lost track of the days.  
  
_'Man... I'm starting to look like crap. Guess that sorta happens when you're homeless. I was hoping that by  
coming here I would run into someone, but the park's been empty for a while.'_

He sighed in annoyance as he stared at his reflection. He had tried to leave many times, but honestly he had no clue where to go. He didn't know where anyone lived and his cell phone had been dead for a while now.

"Poor little one..." whispered a voice.  
  
Takuya whirled around to see who it was, and then looked puzzled when he saw no one.  
  
"Hmph... great now I'm starting to hear things. Lovely, just lovely. First my own family and friends forget  
who I am, I live in the park for a couple weeks, and now I'm going crazy too!" he yelled annoyed.

-------------------------------  
  
Kouji brushed his hair out of his face as he walked through the park.  
  
_'Why didn't Izumi tell us? She didn't think it was odd that she couldn't reach Takuya? But then again we  
never really exchanged phone numbers, she had probaly gotten the number and address out of the phone book.  
I know that was Takuya's house though... because the little boy on the couch, was an identical match  
to Takuya's description of Shinya.'  
_  
He scowled slightly as these and multiple other thoughts ran through his head. He had to find Takuya.

-----------------------------------  
  
Takuya slapped at the water, disgusted with his reflection, his situation, and himself.  
  
"Poor little child of flame."  
  
Takuya spun around, "Who's there?"  
  
A phantom like creatured appeared in front of Takuya.  
  
"A ghost?" Takya whispered.  
  
The phantom smiled.  
  
"You give me such little credit. I am not even from this world."  
  
"A digimon? Digimon can't exist in this world, can they?" Takuya asked.  
  
"Of course we can, whoever said otherwise. If only those in the digital world could see the child of  
flame now. Beating his reflection up and looking as you do now. Its amazing that a spirit can look so  
pitiful."  
  
"Hey! You listen he... spirit?"  
  
The phantom smiled once more, showning his black teeth.

---------------------------  
  
Kouji looked up as he heard a voice that he recognized so well.  
  
_'Takuya...'_  
  
He spun around and headed through the bushes and came upon a clearing in front of the small creek  
that ran through the park. Before him stood, a much worse for wear Takuya, and what sorta  
resembled a Bakumon. He wanted to run out there in front of his friend, but his better judgement  
told him to wait and see what was going on.  
  
"You're lying!" Takuya yelled.  
  
"Hmph.. such anger from someone who shouldn't even be able to feel emotions," replied the phantom.  
  
Kouji's eyes widened at this, 'Why wouldn't Takuya be able to feel emotions?'  
  
Takuya scowled and muttered something Kouji was unable to hear. The phantom showed its teeth once  
more and made a dive for Takuya.  
  
"What the hell are you attacking me for you freak?!" Takuya screamed while dodging the phantom.  
  
"If the spirit of the flame is gone, then... everything will come together," the phantom smiled once more.  
  
Takuya dodged another one of the phantom's attacks, 'If only..'  
  
He didn't have time to finish that last thought as the phantom sent an attack his way that sent him  
flying into the creek. He shook his head and looked up in time to see the phantom heading straight  
for him.  
  
Kouji didn't have to wait for an invitation as he ran towards his friend. He promptly jumped in the air  
and kicked the phantom and sent him flying.  
  
_'I didn't expect him to be solid...'_ Kouji thought suprised.  
  
He quickly grabbed a hold of a shocked Takuya and the two ran from the scene, leaving a very annoyed  
digimon.

------------------------------------  
  
Kouji watched slightly annoyed and worried at the same time, as his friend simply sat there staring at his hands.  
They had been at his apartment for over an hour now and Takuya had not said a word.  
  
Takuya sighed and lifted his hands into the air and twirled them around.  
  
_'Am I really here or not? I don't feel any different. That digimon said I shouldn't be able  
to feel... but I still feel, don't I?'  
_  
Kouji cleared his throat, "Takuya."  
  
The brunette didn't even look up.  
  
Kouji's eye twitched a bit before he punched Takuya in the face.  
  
"Ow, what the hell did you do that for? I heard you the first time." Takuya yelled, while rubbing his cheek.  
  
"Well, next time acknowledge it. Takuya what's going on?"  
  
Takuya just shrugged his shoulders, "How's things been going in your life?"  
  
Kouji's eye twitched once more, "I went to your house Takuya."  
  
Takuya looked up at the ceiling, "Don't say anything, I already know. They didn't know who I was right?"  
  
Kouji went to reply, but heard a key turning in the lock. He sighed as he went to open the door,  
while Takuya simply went back to staring at his hands. Kouichi smiled at his brother, and goes to say something  
when he saw a shade of brown.  
  
"Takuya?" he asks.  
  
"Takuya? He's here?" Izumi asked, as she brushed past Kouichi and Kouji and headed over to Takuya.  
  
"Can I talk to you?" Kouichi asked.  
  
"Yeah.. come on," replied Kouji.  
  
The two twins head back to their bedroom, while Izumi tried to get Takuya to talk to her.  
  
"So whats going on? Takuya... doesn't seem like himself," Kouichi asked.  
  
"I wish I knew. All he's done since I've found him is sit there staring at his hands. Every time I  
try to ask what's going on, he either ignores me, or changes the subject," Kouji replied.  
  
"Where did you find him? Izumi and I went to his house earlier, his mother didn't even know who he  
was."  
  
"Yeah, sa-"  
  
Their conversation was interupted by Izumi's scream. The two ran out to see Izumi backed up against  
the couch staring at what sorta resembled Takuya. It was really more of a blur of Flamon and Takuya.  
  
"Isn't that Flamon?" mumbled a frightened Izumi.  
  
"What is going on?" Kouji muttered.  
  
Suddently his cell phone started ringing, normally he wouldn't of thought of answering it at such a time.  
That is if it hadn't floated over to him. He went to grab and it quickly changed into his D-tector. He  
didn't even have time to comprehend that fact, before it shot a white light out and hit Takuya square in  
the chest. The boy screamed slightly before returning to his human form and passing out on the couch.  
  
Kouji, Kouichi and Izumi stared at one another and then back to the unconscious boy on the floor.  
  
_'What in the world is going on?'_ They all thought.

* * *

Next Chapter - Takuya or Flamon?  
  
AN - Just in case there are people here who haven't seen the end of Frontier. At the end of the series  
the children's D-tectors changed back into their cell phones after Kouichi is revived. 


	3. Chapter 2 Flamon or Takuya?

Into the Darkness  
Lyra  
Chapter 2 Flamon or Takuya?  
  
AN: Normally I like to refrain from putting these notes in my stories other than the first and last chapters, but I wanted to apologize for taking so long in getting this chapter out. Honestly I'm a busy person, and been having problems deciding exactly where I want this fiction to go. Hopefully everyone will enjoy this chapter as much  
as they have the previous two.

_Italics _= Memory/Flashback Sequence  
Where there are two seperater lines = Dream Sequence  
"...." = Talking  
_'italics'_ = Thinking

* * *

Kouji sighed as he looked at the unconscious boy before him.  
  
_'What the hell is going on here? Takuya, what's happening to you? Or what did happen?'_ he wondered.  
  
A slight knock at the door brought him out of his reverie.  
  
"Kouji-chan, Tomoki and Junpei are here. I've explained to them as much as I know, but honestly I have a feeling you know more," stated Izumi.  
  
Kouji didn't say anything as he took a glance back at the boy on his bed and then followed Izumi out into the living room. Kouji looked at them quite neutrally as he began to explain how he had found Takuya, and what had occurred when he went to Takuya's house. 

"I'm positive that Takuya being attacked in the park and his family not recognizing him are interconnected. I'm just not entirely sure how," Kouji stated.

"It's because I'm not really here," whispered a weak voice.

"Takuya! What are you doing out of bed and what do you mean you're not really here. I believe I know what I see right in front of my own eyes," scolded Izumi.

Takuya laughed slightly, a laughter that held both amusement and bitterness

"I'm here, but not entirely. I really wish I could explain it, but that stupid Bakemon didn't really go into details. It was a more of he wanted me gone, and he wasn't about to explain why."

"Are you sure he was telling the truth? I mean Bakemon aren't really the most trustworthy creatures," replied Junpei.

"What choice do I have? I mean what other explanation is there?" asked Takuya.

"Something doesn't add up. Why are you the only one affected? There's more going on here than that. Not to mention this is the real world Takuya. While Kouichi's sprit was able to cross into the Digital World, I highly doubt a sprit being able to take a physical form here in the real world," replied Kouji.

Takuya nodded then grabbed at his chest and fell to his knees. Kouji ran over to him and knelt down beside the pale boy.

"Are you alright?" he whispered.

Takuya nodded, and let a startled noise when Kouji slipped his arms underneath him and lifted him into his arms.

"Well this is different," he muttered.

"Well don't let it go to your head, I just don't want you passing out and drooling on the carpet," grinned Kouji.

Takuya rolled his eyes as he relaxed against the ebony haired boy. The two slowly made their way to the couch.

"Well since our problem is obviously related to past experiences, it would seem that the best bet would be to see if we can find a way to the digital world," stated Kouichi.

"Well, I suppose the best way would be to try to return the way we left," replied Izumi.

Kouji nodded and looked at the boy who was now drooling on his shoulder instead of the floor. He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling and then smiled softly.

Izumi watched the interaction with sad eyes. She hoped silently that everything would turn out okay, so that maybe those two would get off their high horses and admit what they felt for one another.

_'Boys can be so silly sometimes. I've never met a more stubborn pair in those two,'_ she mused.

-------------------------------------------------

Kouji glared at the ceiling. He silently wished he knew why he was glaring in the first place. True, things were  
definitely in dismay and what not, but they weren't quite on a glaring level. He turned on his side and stared through the shadows at the boy that now occupied his bed. He stared blankly ahead and a slight blush crept up on his cheeks as he recalled a conversation he had with Izumi just a little while before.

_"Are you going to tell him? Or have you not even admitted it to yourself yet?" asked Izumi._

_Kouji raised an eyebrow, "What are you going on about?"_

_Izumi pointed at Takuya on the bed and then smiled secretively._

_"Yeah. That's Takuya, Izumi. Don't tell me you're losing it now too," he muttered._

_Izumi frowned and planted her finger firmly on Kouji's chest._

_"Don't even try it Kouji. You know very well what I'm talking about. Can you honestly sit here and tell me that you don't have any feelings for Takuya-chan?" she fumed._

_Kouji stared blankly at her and then coughed, "Feelings?"_

_Izumi threw her hands up in the air and rolled her eyes, "Kouji Minamoto! Do not play dumb with me; do you think I'm going to believe this act of yours? Tell me then why you acted so scared today when Takuya-chan almost passed out on the floor for a second time? Why you picked him up bridal style? Why you looked at him so sweetly when he fell asleep on your shoulder?"_

_Kouji fought to keep a straight face, "Even if I had answers for your questions Izumi, do you really think I would tell them?"_

_Izumi slumped in defeat and then glared at him, "Do not think this discussion is done with, not by far Minamoto!"_

_Kouji sighed in relief as she left the room._

Kouji sighed as he stared at the brunette. He somewhat had answers for Izumi's questions, but honestly he wasn't even sure of them himself. He smiled slightly as the moonlight danced on Takuya's features, cascading his slightly tan skin in fanfare of silver.

He blinked, _'Do I like Takuya-chan?'_

He stared even harder at Takuya and ran this thought over and over in his head. Sure, he cared about Takuya, a lot. Did he like him more than a friend though?

"Deep in thought I see," whispered a new voice.

Kouji whipped his head around to see Kouichi sitting cross-legged behind him. Kouji blushed as he realized his brother had walked into the room and sat behind him, and he hadn't even noticed because he had been too busy staring at Takuya. Wait, correct that his brother had saw him staring at Takuya. Kouichi laughed softly as his twin turned even more scarlet.

"Does Takuya-chan have something on his face? Or is he so ill that he requires your 24/7 watch?" Kouichi joked.

Kouji frowned, contemplating silently if it was possible to 'take his brother out' without waking up Takuya. He sighed and grumbled, realizing it probably wasn't possible, and so he settled for sarcasm.

"I'm glad I amuse you so," he muttered.

"Romance is always amusing," Kouichi replied.

Kouji nearly choked at that one, "Ro... romance?!"

Kouichi simply smiled, while Kouji smacked his hand to his forehead.

"I take it you've been talking with Izumi?" questioned Kouji.

Kouichi blushed slightly, "Izumi-chan? Nope, this is merely my own observation. Not to mention I must be somewhat close since you haven't been acting quite like yourself since we found Takuya-chan."

Kouji silently sent a prayer up to the heavens at that slight blush, because it meant a change of subject was at hand.

"Why'd you blush when I mentioned Izumi?" questioned Kouji.

Kouichi's eyes widened slightly and he blushed even more so, "No reason."

Kouji raised both eyebrows and grinned wickedly.

Kouichi smiled slightly as he rose, "You're not the only one who can keep their emotions locked up brother."

Kouji sighed in relief as Kouichi left the room, and turned back on his side.

_'Do I really act differently when Takuya-chan is around?'_

Kouichi smiled sadly as he closed the door behind him.

"Do you think he'll ever admit it to himself?" asked Izumi.

Kouichi's concern for his brother kept the blush at bay as he turned to face Izumi. He had to cover his mouth to withhold his gasp. Izumi was standing before him, her hat long gone and her hair cascaded gracefully around her face. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot, but still just as gorgeous. She wore a white dress shirt, and a pair of his mother's pajama shorts. She was smiling at him sadly, concern obvious in her eyes.

Kouichi shook his head slightly, "Eventually, although I fear how this situation will go, I think it may just cause a realization to dawn in him."

Izumi smiled then held her hand out to him, "Come on, you look like you need some hot chocolate just as much as I do."

Kouichi felt the blush creep up on his cheeks as he placed his hand in hers, and the pair made their way to the kitchen.

-----------

---------------------------------------------------------

_Takuya frowned as he took in his surroundings. He couldn't see a darn thing; all that surrounded him was a gray mist. He nearly had a heart attack when someone tugged on his pant leg._

_"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," whispered the owner of the hand._

_Takuya spun around to see_ _a small child with ebony blue hair, and gray eyes staring back at him._

_"Who are you?" Takuya asked._

_"Kouji," replied the child. _

_----------_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Kouji sighed as he closed his eyes.

_'Do I really care that much for Takuya?'_ he pondered.

He kept on turning this thought over in his head, he knew he cared more for Takuya than he did the others, with the exception of his brother. Sometimes he felt like he had to protect Takuya. Takuya's was probably one of the most pure people he knew, also the most stubborn. If it were a choice between Takuya's life and one of his friends, it would be no choice for Takuya. Takuya would easily give up his life for any of them, and while this one of Takuya's greatest strengths. It was also his greatest weakness.

Kouji sighed as he finally let sleep claim him, his mind still going with all of these new 'realizations'.

----------------

----------------------------------------------

_Takuya looked at the child before him, "Kouji?"_

_The child smiled, "Do you want to go home kuya-chan?"_

_Takuya merely nodded as he stared at the child before him. _

_The child raised his hand towards Takuya, "Then lets go, my kuya-chan."_

_Takuya took the child's hand._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_---------------------_

Kouji snapped his eyes open as he felt something touch him. He found himself staring straight into a pair of dark blue eyes, he jumped back and ended up banging his head into the shelf. He grumbled slightly and turned to see a shadow running out the door. He looked at the bed and promptly noticed Takuya was gone. He quickly ran out the door as well. As he was running, he heard Izumi scream which he knew meant the others were awake as well. He made it to the front door before the creature and promptly locked it. Kouichi dashed towards the light switch and turned on the lights, and Junpei blocked the other door. The creature turned out to be Flamon.

"Takuya?" Izumi questioned quietly.

Flamon looked at them with confusion clearly clouding his eyes. He screamed and then ran back to the bedroom and busted through the window.

"Damnit, "muttered Kouji, who then turned and unlocked the door and ran down the hall. He knew where Takuya was going he just hoped he would make it there in time.

* * *

Chapter 3 - Enter the Digital World 


	4. Chapter 3 Enter the Digital World

Into the Darkness

Lyra

PG – 13

Couples: Takouji, Kouichi/Izumi

Chapter 3 – Enter the Digital World

'_italics'_ = Thinking

"...." = Talking

_Italics _= Flashback

/_Italics_/ = Dream Sequence

* * *

Kouji stopped and gasped for breath as he looked at the entrance of the train station. He could hear the other's voices and footsteps behind him. He took another huge breath, ignoring the chill of the air, and started sprinting again.

"Kouji!" cried Izumi as she struggled to catch up to him. She sprinted through the crowd, grasping tightly to Kouichi's hand as she pulled him along. Junpei and Tomoki followed slightly further behind. She stopped for a minute as she realized she had lost sight of him.

"We're never going to catch up to him are we?" she muttered.

"Not likely, the only one who could ever run faster was Takuya," replied Kouichi.

"Well we're screwed then aren't we?" Izumi sighed.

Kouichi looked up as he realized Tomoki and Junpei had caught up with them.

"He's probably going to the elevators," whispered Tomoki.

Izumi went to reply, but instead cried out as a boy crashed into her sending her flying to the ground. The boy turned and apologized before continuing to sprint through the train station.

"Izumi, are you alright?" asked Kouichi and Junpei simultaneously.

Izumi didn't reply she just stared at the boy who was soon disappearing into the crowd. She suddenly pulled herself to her feet and started to sprint after the boy.

"Izumi?" asked Kouichi as he and the others followed her. He caught up to her soon enough, and gave her a questioning look as they ran.

"Didn't you see it?" she asked, slightly gasping for breath.

"See what?" he asked.

"That boy, he had something that looked like a Digivice attached to his hip."

Kouichi's eyes widened slightly.

"Tomoki, Junpei! Go to the elevators and see if you can find Kouji. Kouichi and I are going to follow the boy who ran into me. Tell Kouji we'll see him soon," she ordered.

Junpei went to say something, but Tomoki pulled him along. Izumi turned and passed through the people trying to find the boy. Then she saw him.

"Hey! Wait!" she cried out.

The boy whirled slightly, obviously distressed, and then he stopped when he saw Izumi and Kouichi running towards him. He slumped against a wall as he waited for them to catch up to him.

He raised an eyebrow as Izumi slowly approached him, then she pointed to the digivice in his hand.

"You have a digivice. Are you a chosen?" she asked.

The boy's eyes showed a mixture of emotions. However his face looked completely neutral, "I'm sorry for running into you. I was trying to follow someone."

Izumi frowned as the boy had ignored her question. She pulled an object out of her pocket and smiled. She showed it to the boy.

"Well I suppose I should have been expecting that since you asked me, "he whispered.

He stood up to full height and held his hand out, "Ichijouji, Ken."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Kouji sighed as he looked at the empty terminal. He could hear Tomoki and Junpei groaning as well.

"No trailmon," stated Junpei.

"Well I think we all noticed that one Junpei," snapped Kouji.

"Hey, don't go there with me! I'm not the one running after Takuya like some love sick puppy!" yelled Junpei.

"What?!" yelled Kouji, stepping rather close to the boy.

"Junpei! Kouji! Stop that right now!"

Kouji turned to see Izumi and Kouichi stepping off of the elevator. He was about to tell her to shove it, when he noticed another slim figure step off as well. The boy looked to be about 16, with ebony hair that glinted with a color close to his own. Small slits of lavender also ran through it, matching the pale boys eyes.

"Meh, I'm sorry Ken. You'll have to forgive them. They're both a bunch of hotheads," stated Izumi.

Kouji shot Izumi a look; Izumi returned it with a sickeningly sweet smile that just radiated 'bring it on.' Ken watched the exchange with curiosity and then coughed slightly to get their attention.

"Oh! I almost forgot! You better be grateful Kouji Minamoto! My wonderful eyesight has made it capable to take us to your _precious Takuya-chan_."

"My what?!" Kouji sputtered.

"Kouji, Izumi, stop it. I don't know about you two, but I think our friend here is just as eager to get to the digital world as you two are," stated Kouichi calmly.

Ken smiled sadly and then walked over to a bench and set his laptop down.

"What are you doing?" asked Tomoki quietly.

"You see Ken here has been to the digital world tons of times before. He just uses his laptop, it seems we took the hard way, "Izumi replied for Ken.

"All you need is your digivices and everyone should be able to go through. Later you'll have to meet a friend of mine, Koushirou. He'd love to hear about how you were able to make it to the digital world without a digivice first. Now just hold your digivices up," stated Ken.

Everyone dug their digivices out and held them up the computer, not entirely sure what was going to happen.

"Digital Gate, open!"

Ken closed his eyes as the familiar sensation took over. He frowned a bit, 'This doesn't feel quite the same.'

Soon the whirlwind of sensations and colors were over, and the group found themselves lying just outside of where they had found Takuya's spirit. Ken dusted himself off and looked at their surroundings, he realized immediately that they weren't what he was used to. "Well this explains some of it," he whispered.

Izumi turned to look at him, a question in her eyes. She blinked in surprise as her digivice suddenly lit up. She watched slightly in awe as everyone's, but Ken's did the same.

"Hey! I got my spirits back!" cried Tomoki.

"Well, it seems that there is definitely something going on here," replied Kouichi.

"That's nice and all, but honestly where do we start? I mean we're not even entirely sure if Takuya is here or not. Even if he is, we have no clue where to look," stated Junpei.

"Takuya?" questioned Ken.

"He's the friend who we're looking for. See a lot of events happened in the real world before we ran into you," stated Izumi.

Ken sighed, "Well I suppose we might as well start searching. I'd like to hear more about what happened."

-------------------------------------------------

Kouji sighed, it was nearly nightfall and they hadn't seen anyone much less Takuya. He turned around as Kouichi put his hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Kouji, I know you don't want to stop, but we need our rest. We're not going to find anything in the dark," Kouichi stated.

Kouji frowned and nodded in agreement. He settled by a tree while the others slowly worked on building a fire. He closed his eyes, and didn't open them when he felt a slim figure settle down beside him. He heard typing and knew automatically who it was.

"Your name's Ken right?" he asked without opening his eyes.

Ken mumbled a small yes, and continued typing.

"Why are you here?" Kouji asked bluntly.

"Kouji! Stop being so rude!" yelled Izumi.

Kouji frowned at Izumi, sometimes he felt like she was trying to be his mother or something. Ken smiled sadly at the exchange and then shut his laptop.

"I suppose it's rude of me to ask why you're here and not explain myself. I'm looking for a friend of mine."

Ken set his laptop down as he began to explain his story.

Ken frowned as he looked up at the sky. It seriously looked like rain. He didn't really understand why Daisuke had wanted to go to Shibuya. He mentioned something or other about something he wanted to show Ken.

Now as usual Ken was sitting there waiting for Daisuke to show up. He smiled as he heard the patter of a pair of feet dashing towards him.

"Ken! Sorry I'm late, Jun had to introduce me to her new boyfriend. You know it's near to impossible to get out of the house then. She kept on yammering on about how great of a guy he was, I swear the guy must have been beat red. I don't know why anyone would want to go out with anyone who talks that much!"

Ken raised his eyebrow in amusement, "And you have room to talk how?"

"Shut up. Now do you wanna see what I wanted to show you or not."

"Shortly after that we had a fight of sorts. I was trying to catch up to him when I ran into you Izumi," stated Ken.

"I don't understand. Why do you think he's in the digital world?" asked.

Ken frowned slightly, "Well you see..."

Ken stopped as his digivice suddenly started beeping. He blinked and then stood up quickly.

"Daisuke!"

Izumi titled her head to the side, "How so?"

"Our digivices are interconnected, they let us know when one of us is near each other. It works like this with the rest of us as well. I'm a little surprised it worked here, due to the fact that this isn't my digital world," stated Ken.

Everyone's eyes widened at this statement, but Ken ignored them and started heading in the direction that his digivice stated.

"How isn't this your digital world? Isn't there only one?" asked Kouichi.

"We once came up with a theory that there might be multiple worlds other than just the ones that I've been to. I've been to four different places. Our earth, my digital world, and another reality where emotions held great power. The final place, was one full of darkness," replied Ken.

--------------------------------------------------------

Takuya groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked as his eyes focused on a pair of chocolate brown orbs.

"Are you alright?" asked the owner of those eyes.

"Yeah," Takuya replied as he sat up, "And you are?"

"See... I was sorta hoping you could tell me that," replied the boy.

Takuya ran his hand absently through the grass as he took in the boy's appearance. The boy had warm chocolate eyes, and honey glazed skin. His hair was a brownish red, and a pair of goggles hung around his neck. He looked to be about 16 or so.

"Uhh... I've never seen you in my life," stated Takuya.

The boy sighed dejectedly, "Hmm... well who are you? And do you know where we are?"

"Kanbara, Takuya. It looks like we're in the digital world. I have no clue how I got here though, the last thing I remember is falling asleep on Kouji's shoulder," stated Takuya.

"Kouji?" asked the boy.

Takuya blushed slightly, "Oh, he's a friend of mine. Actually there were a couple of us there. We were trying to figure out why I was being attacked."

"Oh, well I'm not sure how you got here either. In fact I don't even remember how I got here. I woke up not too far from here, and I started wandering and found you unconscious. So I figured better to have company," stated the boy.

"Hmmm, well if I'm here the other's might be here as well. Now let's see, we have to give you a name. I can't just go around saying 'hey you'. What sounds good?" asked Takuya.

"Uhhh.... how about Yuki?"

"Yuki, it is then. Now let's see if we can find my friends, and hopefully someone who knows you."

The pair wandered for a while, before a beeping noise got their attention.

"Yuki, what is that noise?" asked Takuya.

Yuki look just as confused as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a digivice.

"A digivice?" questioned Takuya.

"Digivice? What's that?" asked Yuki as he examined his digivice.

"Uhh... well yours is different than mine, and I'm not too good at explaining it. Mine turns me into a digimon," muttered Takuya.

"Digimon?"

"Daisuke!"

Takuya and Yuki looked up to see a boy Yuki's age running towards them. Takuya grinned as he saw Kouji, Junpei, Izumi, Kouichi and Tomoki following close behind.

"Hey guys!" he yelled.

"Takuya! You're alright!" cried Izumi.

Takuya grinned as everyone except Kouji who stood slightly further away made a fuss over him.

Ken smiled as he ran up to Yuki/Daisuke.

"Don't do that again! I was afraid I wouldn't find you," he cried.

Yuki/Daisuke blinked, "Who are you?"

* * *

Next Chapter – Shackles of the Soul

AN: Also plenty of wonderfully Takouji moments coming up in the next chapter. Ja!


	5. Chapter 4 Shackles of the Soul

Into the Darkness

Lyra

PG – 13

Couples: Takouji, Kouichi/Izumi, Kensuke

Chapter 4 – Shackles of the Soul

* * *

_Ken raised his eyebrow as he watched Daisuke stare at his shoe. It was quiet, that was just horrendously disturbing on its own. Things were never quiet when Daisuke was around. It was then that his friend turned to meet Ken's own eyes. Daisuke's eyes were a deep shade of brown, and they brimmed slightly with tears._

_"Daisuke?" Ken questioned quietly._

_"My shoe's untied," whispered Daisuke._

_Ken slightly puzzled looked at Daisuke's untied shoe than back at Daisuke, "Daisuke, what's going on?"_

_"I'm forgetting Ken," replied Daisuke._

_Ken looked at his friend in utter confusion. Daisuke sighed and slumped dejectedly in his seat._

_"Forgetting what?" asked Ken._

_Daisuke now had tears streaming down his cheeks, "Everything Ken, I'm forgetting everything. I can barely remember my own name."_

_Ken's eyes widened._

--------------------------------------------------------------

It was night now, and Kouji stared at the sky wide awake. They had decided against returning to the real world until they could figure out what on earth was happening here. Kouji was surprised at how relieved he was about finding Takuya.

_'Of course I was worried, Takuya's my best friend. It's perfectly normal to be worried about him._'

Kouji let his eyes wander over the campsite, or more or less over Takuya. He smiled slightly as he watched the moonlight play its magic on Takuya's features. Not that Takuya wasn't already handsome, there was just something about the moonlight that made him look almost erethral.

He watched as the trees cast shadows, and his eyes wandered to Takuya's face. Takuya's skin was for the most part blemish free, minus a small scar just below his ear. He partially remembered asking Takuya about that once, but he had never got an anwser. His eyes wandered to Takuya's closed eyes. He could remember how at times he had gotten lost in their chocolate depths.

Finally his eyes stoped on Takuya's lips.

_'I wonder, if Takuya tastes like his eyes? Like cinnamon... maybe fudge... wait a minute? Why the hell am I thinking about what Takuya tastes like?!'_

Kouji immediately blushed at that thought and the stream of other not so approiate ones that followed.

_'Hell, I have a crush on my best friend.'_

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Takuya stretched slightly as the sun warmly graced his back. It was still kinda early, but fairly warm out. He blinked when he realized everyone else was still asleep.

_'Well, that's a first. I actually woke up before everyone else,'_ he thought mildly amused.

He sighed as he ran his hand through his wavy hair. He definitely didn't like the fact that his memory was lacking. It also made him partially nervous that Daisuke had basically no memory what so ever.

_'What if that happens to me?'_

He shuddered slightly at the thought.

"Takuya? You're actually up early?" asked a sleepy voice.

Takuya smiled as he looked over at Kouji. What he saw, nearly made him get a nosebleed. Kouji's hair had fallen slightly out of his ponytail and was cascading gracefully over his face and shoulders. It had the slightly ruffled, but damn sexy look to it. It had been quite a hot night and it would appear that Kouji had removed both his windbreaker and undershirt.

_'He definitely works out,'_ Takuya thought slightly dazed.

"Takuya? Hey, earth to Takuya?"

Takuya blinked as he realized Kouji was expecting him to actually interact with him, not simply ogle him with his mind.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I was surprised too. I think it might be a first," replied Takuya.

Takuya shifted uncomfortably as Kouji slowly pulled on his shirt.

_'Bad Takuya! Bad! Don't think like that! Kouji's your best friend. Do not be attracted to him, do not!'_ Takuya yelled mentally.

Kouji grinned as it was obvious Takuya was having some type of mental war with himself, because the look on his face was just priceless.

"If you're done having conversations with yourself, help me find breakfast," stated Kouji.

Takuya blushed, and quickly scrambled to his feet.

The two walked for a ways, quietly searching for a meat apple tree.

"Hey Kouji?"

"Hmm?"

"Did I really turn into a digimon?" asked Takuya.

"You mean yesterday? Yeah, kinda surprised me actually. You gave me quite a work out trying to catch up to you," replied Kouji.

"Sorry, next time I'll try and wait for your slow ass," muttered Takuya.

Kouji frowned and pulled Takuya's hat down over his face.

"Watch your mouth Kanbara or I won't help you start the fire."

Takuya frowned as he proceeded to rip Kouji's bandana off.

"Well you'll have to if I keep this for collateral," Takuya baited.

Kouji glared as Takuya winked playfully at him, and took off into a full sprint. Takuya laughed as Kouji hurled insults at him as the two ran.

"You're never going to catch me Minamoto!" Takuya cried.

Kouji growled in return, as he saw Takuya reach the top of a hill. Unfortunately, considering the fact he had stayed focus on Takuya he had failed to see the root that stuck up in the ground. He gracefully tripped over it and crashed straight into Takuya. The force of it sent both boys spiralling down the hill.

"Ow.." muttered Takuya as he slowly opened his eyes.

He immediately turned bright red as he realized Kouji was directly on top of him. Kouji had also turned bright red, but made no move to shift. Takuya smiled slightly as he looked at his best friend.

"Guess you caught me," he whispered.

"Oh, did I?" mumured Kouji.

Takuya felt his heart beat speed up. Kouji's face was a mere inch from his own, all he would have to do is raise his head just a bit...

"Takuya! Kouji! Where are you?" yelled Izumi.

Kouji frowned and immediately cursed Izumi as he rolled off Takuya. He missed Takuya's frown as he slowly hauled himself to his feet. He put out his hand for Takuya.

"Come kuya, let's get going," stated Kouji.

Takuya's eyes widened at that name, and his brown eyes gathered a dazed look to them.

_'Kuya... Kuya-chan,'_ he thought numbly.

His mind wandered back to a dream. He remembered the little boy with ebony hair down to his knees. He could hear it again, the sweet melodic voice in his mind. Calling to him, only for him.

_'Kuya-chan... my kuya-chan, ai shiteru. Come home, kuya,'_ whispered the voice.

"Home?" he muttered numbly.

"Kuya! Takuya!" cried a new voice.

Suddenly a pain shot through his face, and he blinked. He was back, and staring at a very distressed Kouji.

"Uhhh... ow?" mumbled Takuya.

"Idiot..."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Ken smiled as he watched Izumi drag Takuya and Kouji into camp.

"Now is not the time to be wandering off alone, and without your detectors! Now come on, Junpei's almost got breakfast ready," she scolded.

Ken handed some firewood to Junpei and then settled down next to a tree. He sighed slightly as he watched Junpei attempting to explain the logic of meat apples to Daisuke.

"Did you have meat apples in your world?" asked a quiet voice.

Ken smiled at Kouichi as he settled down next to him, "No. Which as awful as it sounds I'm kinda grateful we didn't. Its one thing that Daisuke is actually learning, not having to be retold."

"Did he have his memories before he came here?" asked Kouichi.

"Yes and no.." murmured Ken.

"Yes and no? How can it be both?" asked Izumi as she joined the small group.

"Well I mean as far as I know, his memory was fine. It's just right before he ran off we had a strange conversations of sorts. He was extremely distressed, he kept on saying something about how he was forgetting everything. He also mentioned something about saying something now before it was too late," replied Ken.

"Did he say what that something was?" asked Izumi.

"Sorta-"

"Hey guys! Fire's started, so come get your food!" yelled Takuya.

Kouichi dusted himself off and headed over to where Takuya and Junpei were fighting over the meat apples. Ken prepared to head off too, when Izumi grabbed his arm. He looked down to find her smiling at him.

"You don't have to say what that something was, but you should really consider your answer when we get Daisuke's memories back," with that she stood up and headed off with everyone else leaving Ken to stare at her dumbfounded.

----------------------------------------------------------

"Soo... where were you this morning brother dear?"

Kouji glared at his older brother, "None of your business, Onii-chan."

"Awww... you can tell your brother these things. I do have more life experience in the matter," replied Kouichi.

"You were born like a minute earlier, how on earth does that qualify on more life experience," muttered Kouji.

"Hey! A lot can happen in a minute. Anyways you better get your butt in gear, someone's bound to snap up a guy like Takuya," replied Kouichi.

"Kouichi... for one if you haven't noticed we're in the digital world. There's only like eight of us here brainiac.. hey wait I am so not discussing this!" yelled Kouji.

"Not discussing what?" asked Daisuke as he peered down at the twins.

"Just Kouji's love life," replied Kouichi.

"Onii-chan!" yelled Kouji as he attempted to strangle his older sibling.

Daisuke sweatdropped and backed away and then headed to have a seat next to Takuya.

"Hey, Takuya... what's a love life?" he asked innocently.

Takuya raised an eyebrow, "Well for starters, do you know what love is?"

Daisuke titled his head to the side like a curious child and Takuya sighed.

_'Man, this guy's almost like a four year old. He's totally innocent without his memories,'_ Takuya thought.

"Love is when you care for someone a lot. Say you know someone and you're good friends. You want to do anything to keep them happy and save, that's a type of love. It can vary, sometimes its romantic and other times its just purely on a friendship level," stated Takuya.

"Romantic? Do you love someone romantically?" Daisuke asked.

Takuya turned bright red, "Uhh.. well.. you see..."

"In other words that's a yes," stated Junpei as he approached the two.

"Takuya onii-chan's in love!" yelled Tomoki playfully.

This caused Kouji and Kouichi to stop their arguing at stare at Takuya, which did nothing to help the brunette's embarassment as he turned even more bright red. All the while Daisuke was staring at Takuya totally confused.

"So since Takuya turned bright red, he's in love?" he asked.

Izumi giggled, "Sorta Daisuke-kun. Sorta."

At this point Takuya had managed to sneak off. He sighed as he approached a small stream. He knew exactly where he stood on his feelings of love, however he highly doubted those feelings were returned.

_'I suppose I shouldn't worry about things that can't be changed, and focus on stuff that can,'_ he thought mildly.

He frowned and hugged his knees closer as a cool breeze blew through the area.

"The wind's are changing," whispered Izumi as she settled down next to Takuya.

"It's also getting colder, things are going to get bad soon aren't they?" asked Takuya.

Izumi sighed, she didn't know how to answer her friend. All she knew was things are about to change. She prayed silently that it wasn't for the worst.

Ken frowned as he stretched slightly, the air was just brimming with electricity. He peered through the thick coverage of the trees and saw the sky was near black.

"A storm's coming and fast. We better find some better shelter than this if we don't want to get caught in it," stated Junpei.

"Is everyone here?" asked Tomoki.

Junpei looked around and frowned, "Where are Takky and Z?"

"Right here! What's up?" asked Takuya as he approached with Izumi.

"Storm's coming, Junpei says we better find shelter soon," stated Kouichi.

"Well, let's go! Which way you think's best?" asked Takuya.

"This way!" yelled Izumi and Junpei at the same time.

Everyone sighed as the two began to argue over the direction. Ken frowned as he peered over at Daisuke and noticed the worried look on the boy's face.

_'He couldn't...'_ Ken thought worriedly.

"Daisuke, daijoubu?" asked Ken.

"I feel weird... Like all my senses are standing on edge," replied Daisuke.

_'Crap...'_ thought Ken. He sincerely hoped they would pick a direction soon.

Finally Kouji got annoyed and picked the direction for everyone and they were soon off, as thunder could be heard in the distance.

"I don't think we're going to make it, "whispered Izumi as she huddled close to Kouichi.

"What do you mean? We can barely hear the thunder anymore," replied Takuya.

Suddenly lightening shot across the sky, striking the ground just a few feet away. Izumi screamed and clutched Kouichi's waist in fright. Which in turn resulted Kouichi to turn quite an interesting shade of red.

"Onii-chan as much as you're probaly enjoyed Izumi's contact, we need to move. Now!" yelled Kouji as he broke into a full run.

The group ran and soon rain was pouring down on them as well.

"There!" yelled Tomoki through the rain.

A small cave hidden slightly behind a old rockslide and trees became clearer through the foilage of the forest. Soon almost everyone was inside except for Takuya, Ken and Daisuke. Takuya went to enter with Ken just close behind when Daisuke suddenly stopped.

Ken whirled around a clear shone fear and knowledge gleaming in his eyes.

_'Shit!_' he thought annoyed.

"Daisuke, what the hell are you doing?" yelled Takuya as he brushed past Ken to approach the boy.

"No, don't!" yelled Ken.

However Ken's warning was too late. Takuya reached out to grab Daisuke's arm. What happened next was a bit of a slow motion blur. A shot of blue lightening rained down from the sky slamming into the ground between Daisuke and Takuya.

Takuya was sent flying backwards and slammed against the outside of the cave. Within a second Kouji was outside of the cave checking on the unconscious brunette.

Daisuke on the other hand was unharmed and was glowing a sky blue. His skin had paled a couple degrees and his normally reddish hair now had streaks of blonde running through it.

"What the?" whispered Junpei.

Ken slowly set his laptop down on the ground and headed out towards the glowing redhead.

"Ken! What are you doing?" cried Izumi.

Ken merely turned and looked at them and smiled. Again a bolt of blue lightening flew from the sky heading for the bluenette. However just before it was about to strike him it bounced off an invisible barrier and dissipated.

The other's watched in amazement as Ken started to glow with a faint purple light of his own, and slits of purple ran through his ebony hair. Ken's eyes were glowing a deep amethyst as he approached Daisuke.

"Daisuke, calm down," he whispered calmly.

Daisuke turned his head to the side curiously, "Ken."

Ken stopped glowing and returned to his normal state as Daisuke's eyes slowly closed and he slumped to the ground. Ken sighed in relief as he went and picked up the unconscious redhead and turned to head back to the cave.

However Kouji met him halfway with an unconcious Takuya in his arms, "You have some explaining to do, and I mean now. Just what the hell is going on?"

* * *

AN: Lol, I just keep on adding twists don't I? Don't worry all shall be explained. Of course more Takouji and Kensuke moments to come in the next chapter. I hope everyone's enjoying and thank you so much for the reviews!

Next Chapter – Untainted Memories


	6. Chapter 5 Untainted Memories

Into the Darkness

Lyra

Couples - Kensuke, Takouji, Kouichi/Izumi

Rating - PG-13

"Untainted Memories"

AN - Sorry for how long it took me to get this one out. Just been slightly writer's blocked and I've been working on a few new stories as well. One which, should be making its apperance fairly soon. Well enjoy!

* * *

Ken rolled a rock between his fingers as he was stared at by a piercing pair of blue grey eyes. 

"What happened out there?" Kouji asked somewhat calmly.

Ken sighed, "Everyone might as well sit back and relax, this might take a while."

* * *

_  
Another Time, Another Place_

Ichijouji, Ken sighed as he looked outside. It had been snowing for the better part of the day. Not that  
he overly minded the snow or anything. In fact he was quite fond of it, except for when he had somewhere to be and that snow was preventing him from leaving his household.

He paced silently through the empty household. His parents were off visiting a relative and wormmon  
was currently residing at Daisuke's house.

He looked at the clock on the wall, noon, exactly when he was supposed to be picking up wormmon from his sleepover. If there wasn't anything he hated more than being late, it was not arriving at all. He sighed once more and resorted to laying down on the couch watching the snow fall.

A sudden pounding on the door immediately brought Ken to an upright position. He sleepily rubbed his eyes as he glanced at the clock once more, six o'clock.

_'Must of fell asleep,_' he thought wearily.

The pounding once again resounded throughout the household and he dragged himself off the couch.

"Coming, Coming..." he muttered sleepily.

He opened the door to see a sopping wet Daisuke holding a small backpack to his chest to shield it from the weather conditions. 

"Daisuke, what on earth? Get in here you're drenched!"

Daisuke grinned sheepishly and stepped into the apartment as Ken ran to get some towels.

Ken frowned as he threw a towel to Daisuke.

"I suppose you need clothes too, unless some are coming out of the backpack," Ken muttered as he turne to head towards his room. 

"No clothes, just digimon, " Daisuke replied.

"I'll take the fact that you can joke as a good thing. Now here's some clothes, go change before you catch pneumonia if you haven't already," stated Ken. 

"Hai Hai, Okaa-san, " muttered Daisuke as he headed towards the bathroom.

Ken shook his head as some very distinct sneezes were heard and then went to let the digimon out of the backpack. 

"Ken-chan!" screamed wormmon as he proceeded to bounce out of the backpack and into his partner's arms.

Ken smiled at his partner's antics, "How about some cocoa. I'm sure you're cold and with Daisuke's current condition, I'm sure he could use some too." 

"Hey! Don't forget me!" yelled chibimon as he wriggled out of the now empty backpack.

"Of course not," Ken set wormmon down and proceeded into the kitchen.

He slowly got to work on getting the materials out for cocoa and shook his head every so often as sneezes could be heard. 

"Owie! Dai-chan meanie!" yelled a slightly aggrivated chibimon.

A laugh was heard, and small mumurings drifted across Ken's ears. He smiled slightly as he headed out into the kitchen with the cocoa. 

"Ever so graceful Motomiya?"

Daisuke stuck his tongue out as he settled onto the couch and snagged a cup of cocoa.

Ken sat down on the other side of the couch and turned to his friend, "Now what on earth encouraged you to come out in this weather?" 

Daisuke simply shrugged, "I knew you were all locked up in this apartment with no one for company. Its no fun to watch the snow fall by yourself."

Ken blinked slightly at his friend's answer. It was unlike Daisuke to be so serious so early in the conversation.

Daisuke smiled once more, "Anything good on TV?"

Ken smiled as he turned the television off. He pulled the blanket down from the top of the couch to cover the boy now sleeping on his lap. Daisuke had fallen asleep not too long after they had simply settled on a old soccer match.

Ken ran his hand through his jogress partner's hair and smiled.

"Oy! Ken, hurry up!" yelled Daisuke as he ran outside.

It had ceased snowing and the world was now the angel's territory of pristine white. The snow had been heavy enough to even cease the busy traffic of Tokyo if only for a few hours and Daisuke intended to enjoy it as much as possible. Daisuke grinned and he slowly spun around in a circle.

Ken shook his head and Daisuke started to spin faster until he was nearly in the middle of the street.He slowly pushed through the doors to gaze at the scenery around him. The world was a goregous white wonderland.

"Daisuke get out of the road."

Daisuke stopped spinning and wobbled a bit then laughed.

"Ken, your such a mother hen. Nothing's gonna happen, the traffics all stopped remember?" replied Daisuke.

Ken frowned and then shook his head. He slowly went to sit in the snow and fell back gently on the ground. He waved his arms and legs up and down in an age old rythmn creating snow angels in the process.

As he lay there the smell of snow mingling with that of his wet hair, he listened the sounds surrounding the area. He could hear other kids slowly coming out into the winter wonderland. The birds were chirping ever so quietly in the snow. In the distance he could hear a few people shoveling and even a vehicle or two starting up. He frowned slightly at this. People really shouldn't be trying to drive on these roads. 

Suddenly a snow ball landed just above his head. He grinned and twisted over onto his stomach.

"You have bad aim, Motomiya," Ken blinked as he realized Daisuke was no where in sight.

"Daisuke?" he questioned as he slowly stood up, brushing off the snow in the process.

Ken scanned the area and frowned. He turned towards the doorway and then back only to find  
himself with a face full of snow. A soft giggling could be heard from behind the car across the street. Ken grinned and looked across the street before crossing. He slowly snuck around the back of the car to find absolutely nothing.

Ken's face scunched up in confusion and then shock as another snowball hit him in the back of  
head.

"You're getting slow, Ichijouji," stated Daisuke confidently from the other side of the car.

Ken quickly flung a fist full of the snow and Daisuke stumbled backwards in a attempt to avoid  
the snow. Being his ever so graceful self, Daisuke fell flat on his face. Ken smirked slightly, while Daisuke frowned in full force. 

Daisuke brushed his self off and slowly sat up. He quickly set to work on making another  
snow ball.

"Daisuke! Get out of the road!"

Daisuke frowned at Ken preparing on giving him another lecture about being a mother hen when  
two things happened simultaneously. His ears picked up the sound of screeching tires, while he suddenly found himself shoved and sliding across the ice covered street.

Daisuke still in shock expecting to see a horrific experience, blinked at what he saw.

Ken was standing in the middle of the road staring at his hands, white as the proverbial ghost and the car?

Well the car, was continuing on its way down the street.

"Ken? What just happened?"

"I think.. I just went through a civic," stammered Ken.

* * *

"You can go through things! That's so cool!" yelled Tomoki. 

"That's just odd, you can really go through things?" asked Junpei.

Ken rose slowly from his seat and proceeded to stick his hand on the cave wall then partially  
through it. 

"I can go through basically everything. Going through living things is a different story entirely  
though. It sorta gets tiring, not to mention I get flashes of emotions and thoughts. Its just a nasty  
situation that way, so I tend to avoid people," Ken replied.

"So what else can Daisuke do?" asked Izumi.

Ken proceeded to sit back down, "As far as I know just the lightening. I think he has the hardest  
time controlling his powers though because of his fickle emotions. Which explains what happened earlier." 

"So let me get this straight? He attempted to barbecue us because he's emotional?" asked Junpei.

Ken shook his head, "Not exactly. Our powers haven't been there our whole lives, so we have learned to adapt to them. Daisuke has no memories past his appearance here a few days ago, so in turn he would have no knowledge that he has these powers, much less know how to control them." 

"Are there others like you two?" asked Kouichi.

Ken nodded, "Within our age range there is five others with power. Miyako, who has the ability to heal most wounds. Hikari, who has the ability to disappear entirely. Iori, who can turn almost anything into a winter wonderland. Takeru, who is capable of flying on occasions, with or without wings. Finally there's Wallace, who can control the plants." 

"Have you ever found out what causes this to happen?" asked Izumi.

"A friend of ours, Koushirou, has a theory that it has something to do with our adventures in the digital world. However he has yet to come up with a complete theory on it all. This has only been going on for a month or so, and has definately led to some interesting incidents," stated Ken.

Kouji leaned back against the rock wall, "So far we have people turning into digimon without a detector, a guy who cango through walls, and another one who could fry us at any moment. For some reason I don't think we're any closer to figuring out what's going on here than before."

Everyone else looked at the floor at this statement as the winds swirled around outside.

"Well since we're not going anywhere, we might as well get some rest. Hopefully the storm will have died down by morning and we can find some solutions," stated Izumi.

Daisuke yawned slowly as he turned over onto his stomach. He blinked slowly as his eyes adjusted to the dim light in the cave. He could slowly make out the others in the darkness.

_'We must of made it through that storm,'_ he thought tiredly.

He frowned slightly as a image drifted back to his mind.

'_Why was Ken's hair violet? I have the feeling another odd thing happened. Just wonderful.' _

Another small whisper of a sound brought Daisuke out of his musings. He searched the room for the sound, and found it be the object of his current train of thought.

Ken was lying next to Daisuke on his side. His face was scrunched in confusion and anger, as a nightmare drifted through his thoughts.

"Mmm... can't have.... you can't have him... suke... amai..." he mumbled incoherently.

Daisuke blinked as the nickname brought a blush to his cheeks. He softly reached out to stroke the other boy's hair and smiled when Ken's features calmed slightly. He then grinned sheepishly as he snuggled closer to the bluenette and inhaled his scent.

Things were definately a bit on the wierd side, but for some reason. At the moment, it really didn't matter.

* * *

I know, I promised lovely Takouji moments and it was totally a Kensuke chapter. Don't worry, things are gonna start to get exciting soon. As feelings will definatley come to a climax along with the introduction of our lovely villain. (Yes, there is one in this story believe it or not ;;) 

I would say this story is probaly around 3-4 chapters from finish. Most likely a sequel will follow eventually along with a small prelude of sorts. However the prelude will be pure Kensuke. However my next story is in the works and the first chapter is around 3/4 done. Then it'll be off to the beta reader, then for some touch ups. I'm hoping that will be out around the beginning of January. I'm actually very much looking forward to that particular series, because its going to include lots of illustrations, a total Alternate Reality setting, and well just plain exciting stuff.

Next Chapter - Matters of a Kaleidoscope Heart

Chatay.


	7. Chapter 6 Matters of Kaleidoscope Heart

Into the Darkness

Chatay

Couples - Takouji, Kouichi/Izumi, Kensuke

Rating - PG-13

AN: Finally things are gonna speed up some, I'm actually pretty excited to get this chapter out. I'm also loving "Night Train" so if you're a Takouji fan definately check that one out. I'm estimating another 3-5 chapters left in this fiction depending on where the plot bunnies tend to take me. Who knows, I'm so entirely fickle. Well Enjoy.

Disclaimer : Don't own Digimon or Characters, I do own the plot.

_Matters of a Kaleidoscope Heart_

* * *

Takuya blinked slowly as he rose to a standing position. 

"What do we have here, Lime?"

"Oh my! I do believe it is a human! Imagine that, Kiwi!"

"A human! Oh! Oh! The Mistress will be so pleased! A human here, I just can't believe it, Lime!"

Takuya's eyes widened at the unfamilar voices and odd conversation reaching his ears. He turned slowly to find himself face to face with some creatures of sorts. They honestly were more of a dirty floating cottonball. Of course the cottonballs had eyes and mouth. Their ears resembled that of a cat's and low stringy tail much like a lions followed as well. The creatures couldn't of been more than a foot tall, yet they had wings up to a good three feet that could easily envelop their whole body.

"Who are you? What are you?" Takuya asked, throughly confused.

The cottonballs floated up and down happily, "We're Nightlemon!"

Takuya nodded as he digested this information. He then took the time to notice his surroundings. It wasn't a very pretty one. For as far as the eye could see was a mass graveyard. Rotting corpses and skeletons littered the ground, every few feet there was what resembled a decaying gravemarker. Oddly enough there was no odor drifting from the bodies, only a deep dark mist in the eternal night.

"Where are we? Is the digital world?"

The Nightlemon looked at one another and shrugged. Which mind you was a odd sight if it was a sight at all, to see a foot tall cottonball shrug.

"We are home. We do not know if home has any other name," they replied in unison.

Takuya scratched his head, "Well is there anyone else around here?"

The Nightlemon bounced up and down happily once more.

"Mistress lives here too!" yelled Kiwi.

"Mistress can help you! She knows home's name!" yelled Lime.

Takuya shrugged, "Well lead the way then."

The Nightlemon began flying towards the dusty horizon. Takuya sighed as he began to follow them. His better judgement led him to believe that someone who lived in a graveyard was more likely to be an enemy than an ally. However there really wasn't many other options at the moment.

As they headed on their way, Takuya took the time to observe some of the surroundings. Along with the usual nastiness of a graveyard there was also a random flower here or there, not to mention it would seem that the skeletons were not just of Japan or even of this time era.

"Are you coming?"

"Yes! Yes! Come see mistress!"

Takuya's eyes widened as he turned to face the Nightlemon and found himself in front of... Well something that could only be described by one word. Paradise. The grass was green as could be, with tons of small violed entwined into the small blades. A small temple stood in front of him. Takuya turned back to see there was a clear distinct marking of stones that divided the areas.

"Welcome human, to my oasis of sorts," said a new voice.

A tall slender woman stoodat the top of the hill. She had sea foam eyes, and long black hair that nearly reached her knees. She was adorned in a simple white dress, with small gold bracelets on her wrists. In her hand, she held a gold staff that was nearly as tall as her.

"It has been a very long time since a human has come to this land, which is quite obvious by the oh so lovely scenary outside. Oh, forgive me I have been living with these Nightlemon to long. My name is Kyoko, I am the keeper of this small temple."

"Kanbara, Takuya and honestly I have no idea how I came to this place to begin with. I thought I was sleeping, as odd as that sounds," Takuya coughed nervously.

"Well that would make sense, because that would be the only way to reach this place," Kyoko stated.

"Huh?"

"It's really quite simple. This world existsin a limbo of sorts. Only those who can find a similarity with this world can reach it. Very few have ever truly been here, those who have were destroyed by the monsters outside this temple. The only reason you were able to reach this temple because you are merely here spiritually, not physically. Otherwise, you would of met the same fate as those before you," she replied.

Takuya nodded in a slow understandment, "Well, how do I get out of here?"

"You will in your own time. I do not know why you were brought to this world. When you find that out, you will return to your world."

Takuya sighed, he was really getting sick of every world pulling him one way or another.

"I really don't have much luck do I?" Takuya stated, slightly annoyed.

Kyoko raised an eyebrow, "You do realise I'm not psychic. I have no idea what you are talking about Kanbara, Takuya."

Takuya blinked at Kyoko's sudden break in formal talk, "Over the past three weeks, I have been erased from existence in my own world, drug into the digital world half human, been barbecued by blue lightening, and now I've been pulled into some spirtual dream world. I am really not doing good on the _'normal' _reality scale."

Kyoko motioned for him to follow him inside, "I haven't been to the digital world in a great many years."

"You've been there? I didn't think humans were able to go there unless they were choosen," stated Takuya.

"Now whoever said I was human, or that it was your digital world I was talking about?" Kyoko asked.

Takuya sighed slightly as he observed the apparently plain temple, "Can we make this easy and instead of me asking what you mean, you can can just elaborate. I'm really sick of riddles, my life's full of them."

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine. Now I think the answer would be quite apparent. I am not a human, as I have already said humans can not reside in this world. As for what I am, I have no desire to answer that particular question. Now for the digital world part, that should be obvious as well. If this world exists in a limbo, what is to say that other worlds do not exist? Why can there not be more than one digital world? I thought it would be quite obvious with the apperance of the two boys from Odaiba."

Takuya nodded and then stopped abruptly, "How do you know about Daisuke and Ken?"

Kyoko shrugged as if the question held no matter to her at all, "I know many a thing. I simply do not sit in this temple and stare at the walls. I had thought you were a bright boy, you do the math."

"If you know about the fact that I exist in a different digital world than you, and you know about Daisuke and Ken, then you've been watching us."

"Why I do believe the boy has it figured out! Isn't that just lovely Kiwi and Lime?" Kyoko asked sarcastically.

The two nightlemon bounched, "Lovely! Lovely!"

Takuya rose to stand and suddenly found his body pulled back to the chair. He went to stand again and found he couldn't.

"What have you done?" he asked.

_'Well at least I can speak,'_ he added as an afterthought.

Kyoko's calm features took on somewhat of a more sinster look as she stood and crossed the room, so that she stood directly in front of Takuya.

"Why do you ask such obvious questions my little kuya? I stopped you from being able to move."

_'Kuya..'_ Takuya thought absently, his mind dawning slightly on a realization.

Suddenly his mind stopped all thoughts as Kyoko's hand began to travel up his neck. Each touch felt like a needle stabbing into his skin. Kyoko smiled wickedly as her fingertips trailed along the line of his jaw, up to his chin, and rested on his lips. Takuya's mind screamed as he brought her face towards his...

"Takuya!"

Takuya's eyes shot open, and he found himself face to face with Kouji's jawdropping blue grey eyes.

"You okay?" Kouji asked quietly.

Takuya slowly rose to a sitting position to face the boy before him.

"Yeah, just a bad dream. No big deal, what happened?"

"Mmm... well after you felt the need to get yourself barbecued. We sat inside the cave, learned that Daisuke was the one that barbecued you, and Ken can go through walls. The storm's cleared up, and everyone else is out gathering supplies for breakfast," Kouji replied.

Takuya frowned playfully at Kouji's barbecue comments, "Hey, its not like I did it on purpose."

Kouji batted his blue eyes in a mock jesture, "For some reason I think you just didn't want to help start the fire this time."

Takuya threw his arms up in the air in a similar jesture, "Oh yes, I wanted to avoid the possibility of starting the fire so much, that I felt the need to be one with electricity."

Kouji laughed and then found himself covering his mouth with a yawn.

Takuya blinked his eyes curiously, "Didn't you sleep?"

Kouji's cheeks turned an interesting shade of pink. They turned even pinker when Takuya cocked his head to the side in a super cute curious manner.

"Kouji! Give us a hand will ya?" yelled Junpei from the entrance of the cave.

Kouji stood and hurried outside to the cave just as Kouichi was just coming in.

"Feeling better?"

Takuya nodded, "Yeah, sleep does wonders. Kouji didn't get any sleep did he?"

Kouichi plopped down next to Takuya, "He was still up when I fell asleep and woke up. So I'm assuming not, he spent most of the night watching over you."

Takuya nodded slightly suprised, _'Why would Kouji stay up all night with me? He couldn't? Nah... he's just being a good friend.'_

Kouichi smiled as it was apparent Takuya was in his own world, "Well if your feeling up to it, breakfast is almost ready. I'm sure everyone will be glad to see your alright."

Takuya slowly rose to his feet and followed Kouichi to the entrance of the cave. The digital world being, well the digital world, of course showed no signs thata storm had just gone through. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the birds were chirping like the first day of spring.

"Takuya!"

"Takuya onii-chan!"

Takuya smiled as Izumi and Tomoki ran up to greet him.

"I'm so glad your alright, we were so worried about you. You wouldn't wake up for any of us, even Kouji, " stated Izumi.

Takuya grinned, "Yeah I'm a heavy sleeper."

"More like comatose," snorted Junpei.

Takuya followed Izumi and Tomoki over to the fire. Kouichi was slowly coming out of the cave, Daisuke and Ken were talking softly near the edge of the trees. Kouji, however, was no where in sight.

"Hey, where's Kouji?" Takuya asked.

"Hmmm, I think he went to get some water. Tomoki, why don't you go see if he needs help," stated Izumi.

"No, I'll go," stated Takuya as he stood and headed into the trees.

Takuya sighed as he headed followed the path towards the stream. He really didn't know why he volunteered to go. He could just as easily be sitting at the fire with everyone else, discussing what happened, or tell them about his dream. But, noooo he had to go and decide that maybe he could say something. Maybe he could finally tell Kouji he was in love with him.

_'When did it become love?'_ Takuya thought mildly.

Two days ago he couldn't even admit that he might even remotely like Kouji asmore than a friend, and now he was in love with him? It didn't work like that did it? Love is something serious, something that takes months to happen right? It doesn't happen overnight, nah it isn't possible.

Then why was he on his way to tell a certain midnight haired boy he loved him?

_'Maybe because it has been months?'_ he thought curiously confused.

It wasn't like he was in love witha complete stranger at least. He had known Kouji for quite some time now. So maybe he had been in love with Kouji for quite some time now. It was possible right? To fall in love with your best friend? Sure it was.

"It's completely reasonable, makes total sense," Takuya stated.

"What is completely reasonable and makes total sense?" asked a seriously amused voice.

Takuya could literally feel his brain jump out of his skull and run back to the campfire, leaving his body standing there absently. It was Kouji, oh god. It's one thing to have a conversation in your mind, but to have it now? Kouji was supposed to be at the stream, how dare he not give Takuya's mind the extra five minutes to prep. Oh wait, Takuya's mind ran away.

"Umm.. water?" Takuya stated stupidly.

"I suppose water can be completely reasonable, however I don't know if it really makes total sense. However for some reason I have the feeling its more of your body talking than your brain at the moment," Kouji replied.

Now it was Takuya's turn for his cheek's to turn an interesting shade of pink.

"Well since it seems your brain has left you, I suppose your body won't mind if I drag it to the stream for you to wash some of Izumi's blush off your cheeks," Kouji laughed.

Takuya's cheeks were blazing, here he had come to tell Kouji he just might be in love with him, and Kouji was embarassing him to no end. Well, it's Kouji so I suppose it's allowed after all.

Kouji's own heart was going a million beats a minute as Takuya followed him to the stream. Unlike Takuya, he had no problems identifying what he felt for the brunette. However the problem he had was voicing them. How do you tell your best friend your in love with them? Never mind that, how do you tell your **_guy_** best friend that you're in love with them. There is so many things that can go wrong there.

Takuya could laugh at him and tell him to stop joking, or worse, he could say he hated Kouji and never wanted to see him again. Of course there was the off and mind you way off chance Takuya could like him back, but that would never happen. Nothing that lucky ever happened for him.

"Uhh.. Kouji unless your intending on walking into the stream, we're here," stated Takuya quietly.

Kouji coughed nervously as he motioned for Takuya to sit, " Takuya, I need to talk to you."

Takuya's own heart sped up a good few beats or so. Last time, he heard that phrase his mother had told him his goldfish had died. And not just died like caput died, no Shinya had cooked him on the stove, died.

"I've come to some conclusions over the past couple weeks," Kouji started out.

_'Oh no, he's noticed that I'm in love with him. Now he's going to tell me how he could never love and how he never wants to talk to me again,'_ Takuya thought.

"And I think.."

Takuya closed his eyes, _'Oh I really don't want this to happen.'_

"I think that I love you,"

'_Here it comes, oh this is the end.'_

"And not love you as a friend, I think I **_love_** you," Kouji continued.

_'I really, really, really don't want this to... wait a minute. What?'_

"I understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore," Kouji stated as he rose to his feet.

Kouji sighed in defeat as he started to walk away when he suddenly found himself glomped from behind and back first on the ground, with a slightly heavy brunette on top of him.

"Takuya?" Kouji asked confused.

Kouji suddenly found himself unable to answer any more questions as Takuya's lips found his own.

"I love you too," replied Takuya as he once again sought out Kouji's lips.

* * *

AN - Wow, this chapter totally ended up way different than I thought it would. Not to mention the plot bunnies have come and given me a visit. They have told me of their travels, and I must tell you I feel the need to share their stories. So if all goes well, this fiction is going to be a good couple more than three chapters left. squeals in author happiness Well I hope that satisfies my fellow Takouji lovers out there since I delivered a pure Kensuke last chapter.

Next Chapter -"Title Unknown"


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